Walking with Chaos
by Chibi Nataku
Summary: Sequel to 'Only in Dreams'. Yuber walks of the path of demon to his final end, but his path will never be easy. There are many that seek to gain some control over those with absolute freedom.


Walking with Chaos  
  
By Chibi Nataku  
  
Disclaimer: Whee, I'm back borrowing Konami's Suikoden characters, and I agree that I hold no claim over them as much as I really want to, but we can't always have our way. Despite this fact, Natas, Mia, and Joshua are my characters and I claim all rights to them that I can without slapping a copyright on them because, well let's face it, they aren't deserving enough of that.  
  
Prologue  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Within the endless silence of the black space, a woman stood. Her world comprised of the oblivion, the eternal darkness that every creature and inorganic matter returned to eventually. She stood among the long strings that covered her small space of light, and she silently watched as each translucent shimmering wire disappeared off into the forever inky blackness. Above her head, a silhouette of a planet swirled with constant change, each fine wire entwining around the planet. Of those wires, it was the coloured ones that she favoured to watch, twenty-eight in all and each with their own unique pull on the planet, smiling as the earth slid one way or the other depending on the pull of the True Runes. It was within this pull that there was balance to the world and all was right.  
  
She was the silent entity known as Fate, and she had been watching these strings since the very dawn of time. Her milky white skin was bathed in a strange light, its source unknown to all except her. Yet, on her flesh appeared the glowing lights of twenty-eight symbols, one representing each of the True Runes both in their active and inactive states. Even through her long silver robes that had a rich emerald green lining and travelled off into the darkness did these lights appear, all except one silent symbol which had faded down to a dull mark, the True Sword. Yet, her long ebony black hair covered that mark on the back of her neck, the silky locks settling in and around her feet before trickling off to join the darkness, all but the few silver strands disappearing right away. Her deep green eyes were full of knowledge, both of the past and of the future.  
  
Fate reached up and let her finger run over one particular constantly shifting wire, her favourite. Her body showed a twenty-ninth symbol, the True Shield, but its presence was marked over with the True Rune of absolute chaos, the Eightfold Rune. It was that particular string that she watched the most, interested on how the balance would shift with unsettled chaos moving across the lands almost completely unchecked and unstoppable, except by her will. And it had been through her will that the child of the Shield remained trapped where he could do the least amount of harm, so the child could not completely destroy the earth with his chaotic tendencies except only under the will of others who governed as much of her attention as the undone Shield.  
  
She smiled softly in remembrance, her gaze moving over her keep until she seemed satisfied. Her wise gaze shifted to the floor beneath her bare feet, lifting a foot as if the clear floor was cold to touch. She watched as the blackness beneath her swirled into an image of her liking, one of a future that had yet to be decided by two individuals who had achieved free will by overstepping the boundaries of human and animalistic nature. Only by dancing the steps that lead down the path to actually killing Fate did these two take a step from the strings that dictated the actions of everyone else, but soon enough, they would fight to determine the actions of all the others that moved along their strings normally.  
  
It would be a simple battle once it commenced, at least in her eyes. The victor won everything that was to be won. Should the child of the Earth win, she would be free of her duty for all time and the freedom for every other creature would also fall down to universal self-dictation from one individual to another. However, should the child of the Sky find victory, balance would once more reign and time itself would restart for a better beginning that would lead to less pain to the creatures that walked the earth. It was a simple battle of Chaos fighting against Dharma, only one victor for one possible end.  
  
Which of the two would be most likely to win? Not even Fate knew the answer to that question, but she could compare the abilities of the two and judge by simple probability reasoning. Yet, she would never voice who of the two she favoured because her voice often had the ability to shift the tides of even the freest soul in the universe, so she remained silent. However, it was difficult to judge just how free the two men were because no matter what, they were still treading over the strings of others who may hold some change over their restrictive paths.  
  
Despite her silence, she still smiled almost warmly to her strings, occasionally touching one as if to comfort it. Her nimble fingers shifted in the only small amount of light, reaching to tug softly on certain strings, the swirling floor beneath her feet shifted to reveal the individual who she directed. Just as quickly as the images appeared, they disappeared back into darkness until her finger touched another wire or her mind call forward an image that she wished.  
  
Yet, quite suddenly, her gaze shifted away from the strings around her as the floor beneath her trembled considerably, locking on one flickering symbol on her body. The True Rune in question faded before becoming brighter than all the others, an obvious struggle between an eternal entity and a creature of immense power. Beneath her feet, an image of blood splashing over the opposite side of the floor as the body of a gargantuan spider was torn into pieces. The endless darkness trembled with the agonized scream of a True Rune, one scream quickly breaking apart into eight separate smaller ones and chaotic laughter echoed behind the cries of mercy.  
  
She took a step back as eight considerably smaller spiders cowered in pairs of two as the laughter continued before settling down into a feral growl of anger. She cocked her head to the side as each pair was dragged forward and given a name and title for which they would forever remain. She watched in increasing interest, noting the names of the spiders and the fact that each pair comprised of a female and a male, sister and brother. Each pair looked completely identical and the similarities between each of the pairs indicated their origins, a small Eightfold symbol on each of their backs. This appeared to be the Eightfold Rune's punishment for crossing Yuber wrongly.  
  
First to be named was Amon and his sister, Amaunet. They were blessed with the title as 'The Unseen' pair. Next, the two spiders that cowered more so than the others, named Nun and Naunet, creatures of the 'Primordial Waters'. Then came Heh and his sister, Hauhet, the spiders of 'Eternity'. Lastly, it was Kek and his sister, Kauket, titled the 'Darkness'; it appeared that these two were the blonde's favourites as he titled them after himself.  
  
Fate continued to watched in interest, even long after the image had faded and the darkness halted its trembles. Her mind worked over what was to be and what was to come, a soft smile pulling at her lips. She knew that the world was beginning to tread down a path that involved considerable struggles and many deaths. Almost instinctively, her fingers went to work pulling on various wires, her fingers plucking the strings as if they were part of a musical instrument; however, she worked tirelessly to bring together the stars of destiny. She knew that Yuber could not win nor could he escape his confinement, not yet at least. Eventually, her hands returned to her sides as she finished her work, standing silently as her gaze traced over the crystalline planet above her, studying the movement of the stars.  
  
When the movements suited her, she looked down to the floor, calling forward an image that pleased her. She could not help but smile as an image of the fallen Shield appeared, his mismatched gaze blazing with rage. Slowly, she knelt down to stroke the floor, her fingers running over the cool surface but she could almost imagine how warm his flesh would be under her touch. Reluctantly, she pulled her fingers from stroking his cheek and stood once more, wishing that she had been given more time with him when she had been mortal.  
  
She somewhat found it ironic that of all the emotions that she had felt when mortal, she could remember very few of them now, despite having only returned to her place for a short period of time. Of all the emotions that she could remember, it was the positive ones that stood out most for Fate was unable to regret. Love, happiness, contentment, wonder, and joy were all the most memorable when she thought of her mortality, yet behind all those positive emotions lay the ability to become angry, frustrated, and uncaring. She never felt it appropriate to pity those who she had direct control over so she did not, nor did she find it in her heart to mourn or feel sorrow for any that lost their lives. These were not her children so she felt relatively nothing for them, except for a handful who had managed to gain her interest.  
  
Yuber and Pesmerga she loved and cared for as though she still walked among them on the mortal plane. Joshua, her child, she watched with joy as he grew, despite the troubled times that lay ahead of him for his battle to adulthood would only get harder the more unremorseful Yuber became. She idly wondered what Yuber would do with the child once he found him, and she knew that the blonde demon would be looking once he got the chance. Still, those were her former family, and she felt a small connection with them, but one other had gained her interest that she had not intended. The former Black Knight known as Natas walked a dangerous path beside Yuber, the wire that dictated his actions almost completely broken thanks to the silver-haired man's resolve to refuse any sort of control. She knew that even the most powerful souls in this world could not break their wires as much as Natas had in his lifetime. Her interest in him was peaking as his association with Yuber increased.  
  
Still, she was an entity that could not be denied by any means, and she was content to watch the strings that bound all of creatures. She would always be watching silently; however, she would always move the strings in a manner that kept the balance until the day of the final battle that decided the actions of everything from that time forward. She was balance itself, and she would be sure to test Yuber to the very brink to see just how far he was willing to travel to succeed in his goal. Of course, Pesmerga's path was no less easy as the hunt for Yuber's trail drove him forward to take back the part of himself that he had lost to his brother. No, neither path was easy; she would see to that.  
  
She was Fate, and she was always watching.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Go Fate? Okay, okay, I know it was not the best prolong, but I just wanted to have an element that was outside of all the battling and show off Fate. I'm certain that she may or may not make another appearance later on in the story, but from now on, it will mostly be Yuber again with elements of those who he comes across.  
  
This particular fic will take place basically a couple of months before the attack on the Village of the Hidden Rune and continue onwards, hopefully, into all of the Suikodens. However, because I'm not too sure of the timeline of Suikoden IV, I might have to say that it will not be included, especially if it takes place in between or before Suikoden I, II, and III. I'm sure I could make arrangements, you know, if they would actually reveal when it takes place! Oh well, I guess I will deal with that crater when I fall into it. 


End file.
